Dishonesty Offences

Basic Offences

The main offences that tend to be charged are set out below with the elements of the offence that the prosecution must prove:

1. Theft
2. Dishonestly
3. Appropriating (Taking)
4. Property
5. Belonging to Another
6. Intending to Permanently deprive (that it would be taken permanently)
7. Robbery
8. Steals (i.e. the theft test above)
9. Uses or threatens force
10. At the time of or immediately before (the theft takes place)
11. Burglary
12. Enters (putting any part of the body into a premises)
13. A Building
14. As a trespasser (i.e. without permission)
15. Steals (i.e. the theft test above)
16. Aggravated Burglary
17. There is a Burglary (as set out above);
18. The Defendant had with them a firearm/an article adapted for causing injury.
19. Taking without Consent
20. A vehicle
21. Was taken
22. Without the consent of the owner
23. There is also the offence of Aggravated Vehicle Taking where either injury is caused to a person or damage is caused to a vehicle
24. Blackmail
25. View to gain or intending to cause loss to another;
26. Makes an unwarranted
27. Demand
28. With menaces (threats)
29. Handling Stolen Goods
30. Receives
31. Goods that were stolen
32. Dishonestly

The offences of Fraud and Money Laundering, which link closely to Dishonesty offences, are covered in the Financial Crime section.

I now turn to defining some of the crucial terms in cases involving dishonesty.

Dishonesty

The Theft Act 1968 does not actually define dishonesty. This is done at Case Law. This was previously known as the Ghosh test but is now set out in the case of Ivey v Genting Casinos. There is now a two stage test that will be followed:

1. What was the defendant’s actual state of knowledge or belief as to the facts; and
2. Was the defendant’s conduct dishonest by the standards of ordinary decent people?

Belonging to Another

Again, this isn't defined in the statute. The case law has to be considered. This was dealt with in R v Vinall where it was held that an intention to permanently deprive meant that the Defendant had “an intention to treat the thing as his own to dispose of regardless of the other's rights”. This essentially means that it is taken in such a way that the Defendant intends to keep it as if they own it.

Trespasser

This ordinarily means entering into premises where the Defendant knows that they do not have consent to enter into the premises. Furthermore, where someone enters with permission that can still be a trespasser if they do something outside of the scope of the consent that was given.

Approaching a Trial

Where an individual is charged with a dishonesty offence, it is important to challenge the underlying evidence. Often, fingerprint and DNA evidence are simply accepted rather than being challenged. Rhys is very familiar with the instruction of experts and the proper approach that should be taken when challenging a Streamlined Forensic Report (SFR) when relied upon by the prosecution.

Rhys has a particular experience in seeking exclude evidence relating to identification and alleged confession evidence. A knowledge of PACE codes is essential and Rhys regularly successfully argues to exclude evidence where the police have failed to follow their own codes of practice or where there has been an identification from social media.

Initial Advice

There are various approaches that can be taken to dishonesty offences but ensuring that a client properly understands the legal process and is familiar with their case, and the strength of the evidence against them, is essential. Where an individual is charged with a dishonesty offence, the outcome of their case is often closely linked to how they give evidence and whether they are liked and believed by a jury.